Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,227

took your life. He knew how easy it was to manipulate your fate, because you had no power against him.”

Niall’s brow creased, his mouth tight. Though Evan could plumb his mind if he chose, he didn’t now. He wanted it to be clear he spoke to Niall as an equal. It might not hold beyond this moment, but he owed the man that regard.

“I was once human, but it was so long ago, and things change when you become a vampire. You forget those inclinations, the emotions. So I can’t say I understand your feelings enough, even now, to claim empathy, or even a great deal of sympathy, because I’ve never stopped wanting you. I might be sorry for what it did to you, but I’m not honorable enough to regret it.”

Those handsome lips, the ones he’d tasted countless times, twisted in a wry expression. He’d felt their demand, felt them on his cock and other parts of his body, but now they held power over him with their simple silence.

Evan rose, paced over to a stand of dogwoods. A birdbath hung on a chain from it, and someone had put a silver quarter in it, like a wishing fountain. He wondered what had inspired the attempt to use it that way, but it underscored the point. Vampires could have wishes as much as humans. And just like humans, they often found wishes didn’t come true.

“You’ve always held a part of your heart away from me. I have your regard, affection, your lust . . . but I don’t have your love, because I’ve never earned it. I have your mind and soul, but I don’t have your heart. Just like you told Alanna.”

Saying it aloud was more difficult than he’d expected. For women, speaking painful truths aloud might be a purging, but for a male it was like engraving it in stone, making it an immutable truth. It made him realize how much he’d truly wanted that from Niall, but he couldn’t blame the man for not offering it. It was his own fault.

Niall rose, coming over to the birdbath. As he trailed his fingers over the glistening quarter, he made the shallow water ripple. They’d known each other for so long. From the look in his eyes, Evan knew he was turning things over in his mind, slow and steady. To give him that time, he backed off a few steps, taking Niall’s bench, feeling the boards warmed by the Scot’s fine backside, those powerful thighs.

“You made me want ye when I wanted to hate ye,” Niall said at last. “When I did hate you. Yet ye took me so many places. Before Ceana died, she said ‘Once our bairns are grown, go with Evan. Have the life you’ve always wanted.’ She knew, no matter how I tried to deny it. So I’ve never thanked ye for it. You never asked for my thanks”—a grim smile touched his lips—“only my service, and the pleasure my body could offer ye, but still. You gave me quite a life. And now, here at the end of it, like the blooming of a first flower in spring, ye gave me her.”

Lifting his head then, he turned and met Evan’s gaze. “So you’re right. Ye didnae have my love, not that way. Not ’til her. Ye would have gone after Stephen, no matter who she was, as a matter of honor. But that’s nae how ye fought him. I felt your rage. Saw the way you held her afterward, the way you looked at both of us. It was like a key in a lock. So rusty I thought it wouldnae turn, but it did, and I found it wasn’t a matter of you not having my love. Ye always had it, and the seed for it was planted that first day, just as Alanna suspected. I held it locked inside myself, afraid to give it to you. Then I thought maybe you didnae want it. Ye always seemed more interested in my soul and mind. But I watched you with her, and that’s when I saw your heart.”

“Alanna told me that men value honor,” Evan said, his mouth absurdly dry. “And that women value love.”

“I’ve often thought ye think more like a woman.” Niall’s gaze gleamed, but then he sobered. “I knew how humans love, understood it from that perspective. But through her, through how she served ye, how she viewed herself, I could finally ken how a vampire loves, what